Tales of Discordia

History

Discordia Historia

It is not known how young or old Discordia is, nor how it came to be. Though much is still unknown about the history of our world, what is known is recorded here. Discordia’s known history can be separated into five distinct ages, although it is not known precisely when these ages began or ended. The exception being the fifth; the current age, which we are just entering the start of. Everything we know about the first three ages is questionable at best. The historical events therein are hard to discern from myth and legend, but many scholars and elders of the eldest mortal races swear the legends are true. Only time and research will tell if their claims hold any real truth.
~Prof. Bartran Greenhill, Lead historian and archeologist of the College of Corzia

The first age: The Dawn of Creation

In the beginning, there was a barren world, devoid of life, where elemental energies waged war for dominion over the world’s suface. The world remained this way for untold eons until the great titan of light and order, Pephion, along his journey through the cosmos, happened upon this planet. Seeing that the world had an innate pool of magic and potential, he used his powers over creation to bring order to the world and shape it into a hospitable domain. He calmed the chaotic elements and put them into stasis. He created a great sun to illuminate and guide the world, and thus, the light of creation broke upon its surface. Pephion then birthed Four gods; Vionna, Tidas, Ygdea, and Nifther out of the latent elemental and spiritual energies of the world to shape and nurture it’s surface. Vionna, born of the earth, raised mountains from the ground and shaped landmasses. Tidas, born of water, filled the crevasses of the land to create the ocean. Nifther, born of air, was appointed the task of controlling the atmosphere of the world, balancing lightning, wind, calm, snow and rain. After this process of terraformation was complete, Ygdea, born of life, created lifeforms – Flora, Fauna, and beasts alike to inhabit the land. Because of it’s previously chaotic state, Pephion dubbed this world “Discordia”. Discordia Existed in harmony for eons, advancing it’s evolutionary timeline and birthing many new, primal creatures. Life and order thrived, until the day Cydea, the great titan of darkness and chaos, also happened upon the world. Cydea desired the magical essence of discordia for herself. In an attempt to sway the world into chaos once more, she awakened the elements of Fire and Death, creating Fidarr and Xerrak. Fidarr, born of fire, furiously tore through the crust of the world, engulfing its surface with great volcanoes and voracious flames. Xerrak, The god of death, stole the souls of Ygdea’s lifeforms and twisted and tormented them into becoming demonic fiends, which would wreak havoc upon the world and disturb creation. Cydea then seduced Nifther, and corrupted him into rampaging the world with mighty storms that would destroy species and stir the oceans. Pephion heard of these atrocities and returned to the planet of Discordia once more. He then clashed with the Dark titan Cydea. They battled accross the cosmos, and with a mighty blow and his entire being, Pephion lashed out at Cydea once more, and shattered her body, which then returned to the void. In doing so, he had saved creation, but the energy expent to deal the final blow to Cydea was so great that it rendered him inert. Spread thin, the titan Pephion allowed himself to die. His body de-materialized and the fragments of his being formed the stars that dot the cosmos. De-moralized by the deaths of their masters, the gods then formed a truce. They used the magic imparted to them by the titans to create small pocket dimensions called the elemental planes of existence; Earth, Water, Fire, Air, which would serve as their respective domains. The demons of Xerrak were driven into the deep places of the earth by the beasts and animals of Ygdea, Where Xerrak had created a plane of existence called Vidahn, The infernal plane, where his demons could have sanctuary. Ygdea then created her own plane of existence, called Sverun, The Eternal Grounds, where the spirits of her created lifeforms go when they die. With the influence of the gods becoming less prevalent, life was allowed to develop on Discordia once more.

The second age: The Reign of Dragons

The creatures of discordia further evolved and eventually sentient, advanced life-forms developed. The first of which, The dragons, learned to wield magic and elements from the latent energies of the world, and acted as its primary guardians. Dragons were largely Gerontocratic, believing that wisdom comes with age. Thus, the leaders of the dragons were the eldest of them; the great wyrms. Each species of dragon had it’s own wyrm patriarch or matriarch, which dictated the way that species of dragon would best live. The dragons became complacent, and desired lesser species; elves, to make into servants. There were many who opposed this idea, claiming that the Dragons should guide these fledgling sentient creatures, teaching them the ways of magic and life, instead of subjecting them to slavery and deceit. The council of wyrms could not come to a decisive conclusion on the matter, and so they each went their separate ways in dealing with the elven civilization. Some, teaching them and nurturing them, others, subjugating them to build great lairs and monuments. Eventually, the elves began to rebel against the dragons, believing the destiny of their race to be their own. Some dragons aided them. They succeeded in fighting their way to freedom, using magic to ultimately defeat the dragons. An order of elf warriors, called The Silver Lance succeeded in the pushing the scattered remnants of the evil dragons into their lairs, where they would have been utterly destroyed, if not for the good dragon’s council. The good dragons insisted that there must be a better alternative to genocide. So it was decided that The Silver Lances would serve to keep the evil wyrms within their lairs, and slay them whenever they broke containment. From there on out, the elves built their civilization around magic and the good dragons that aided them. But in their pursuit and voracious consumption of magic and knowledge, the elves created a monstrosity that would forever shake the foundations of the world.

The third age: The Mother of Monsters and The Arcane Wars

Megion, the greatest sorceress and a respected leader of the elves in the pique of their civilization’s history, tapped into a fount of forbidden knowledge of magic. The duality of magic had been known to the elves before, but never before had the true power of dark magic been known or brandished. Megion sought to change that; to learn more of the dark side of magic and find a way to wield it with good intentions. Megion dabbled in powers beyond her control, and slowly her mind became warped and corrupted by the dark rituals she had performed in secret. She bargained with beings of supreme power from other planes of existence in her search for knowledge, and in doing so, she had become the first warlock. Megion entrusted some of her power to a secret elven conclave of her closest advisors, which in turn became corrupted warlocks. Soon enough, Megion became so corrupted with dark magic, that her body transformed into a hideous creature of scales and flesh. In her new serpent form, she was able to warp creatures into horrible abominations. She was henceforth known as the mother of monsters. The monsters that she created were born with an insatiable thirst for both blood and magic. She also used this foul magic on the elves of her conclave, which turned them into the beings now known as orcs and goblins. Megion lead her legions of monsters and orcs in an overthrow of elven civilization. Together they took the capital city of the elves and slaughtered millions of elfkind and dragonkin. Many elves, with the help of the dragons, were able to flee; to retreat into unknown territory in search of people who would help end the tyranny of monsters. It was in the course of this search that they found the Dwarves; Short, strong humanoids molded from the hills and mountains by the goddess Vionna. The dwarves agreed to help the elves reclaim their home, on the condition that the elves would teach the dwarves the ways of magic. The dwarves, with help from their gnomish cousins, were able to weave the elven magic into magnificent machines capable of intense devastation. These magical machines were then turned against the legions of Megion as powerful weapons. These Machines grew so powerful that their use nearly tore the entire world asunder. The conflict, known by scholars as “The Arcane Wars”, came to a swift and brutal end. Huge landmasses were decimated and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The ancient structures built by the ancestors of the elves were destroyed in the time it takes a mortal heart to beat once. continental drifts divided nations and mountains sprang from fissures in the earth. Life itself was nearly purged, but few people remained, and for now, the threat of the monsters was quelled. Rubble was all that remained of the capital city of the elves. This event sparked a long lasting hatred between elfkind and dwarfkind. The races grew vehemently intolerant of each other and isolated themselves within what was left of their shattered kingdoms for centuries. During which time they dispersed, recuperated, rebuilt, and kept to themselves.

The fourth age: The Birth of Humanity

The dawn of man saw an end to the isolation of the races. Humankind, the youngest of the sentient races, acted as explorers and pioneers of the known world and built mighty kingdoms and domains across it. Namely, on the continent of Viruin, humans from the Evrandian Empire ushered in a diplomatic peace between dwarves and elves on the continent. The territories of the continent stood united as the Evrandian empire for nearly two centuries. Corzia, The capital city of Evrand, stands as the greatest city in this, or any age. Corzia was the city for everyone. You could look like anyone, and be from anywhere, and you would fit right in. Every race was well-respected within the city walls, and the races co-mingled. Evrandian citizens, especailly the nationalistic ones, considered themselves Evrandian first, and whatever race and culture they came from, second.

The fifth age: The Return of Magic

Now, in the start of the age, and the beginning of a new dynasty in the empire, racial tensions are higher than they have been in centuries. The resurgence of magic and the empire’s technological advances have birthed the threat of the return of the Arcane Wars. Evrand, now spurred by a lust for global dominion, has launched a tyrannical conquest against dwarf, human, elf, and other lands alike, using it’s legions of war-mages and fleets of Airships to quell any threat of insurrection.